Chambers Top Departments

Rankings Roundup

Vault #61
AMLaw #54

What do these ratings mean?

from Brian Dalton, Breaking Media Director of Research

The ATL School and Firm Insiders Survey asks self-identified current students,
alumni, and practicing lawyers to rate major aspects of life at their law school (academics, social
life, clinical training, career services, financial aid advising) and/or law firm (compensation,
hours, morale, culture, training). We then translate these ratings into letter grades, where the
mean score for each particular ratings category is the equivalent of a “B.”

We require a minimum threshold of responses for each institution before we publish any survey-based
ratings content. Using a standard formula for statistical validity, we adhere to a threshold that
gives us an 85% confidence level and a 10% margin of error. The precise threshold number will of
course vary depending on the size of the individual institution. For example, for a law firm of
1,000 attorneys, we would require 50 responses in order to publish ratings for the firm.

Top Practice by Headcount and Top Schools data is provided by
Leopard Solutions. Leopard Solutions
is a leading provider of attorney data to legal recruiters, law firms and law schools. We track
attorneys in over 1500 law firms around the country and document their practice area, specialties,
honors, languages advanced degrees and more. We provide an overview of each law firm as well as
detailed information on individual attorneys. The data can be used to track trends, movements,
growth and more.

Leverage is the number of attorneys minus equity partners, divided by equity partners.

Salaries & Compensation

Advances, Bonuses, Benefits & Stipends for First-Years

Insider Reviews

Cooley culture is California culture. Everyone here is relaxed, social, and does not take themselves very seriously.

Summer Associate

Cooley is a wonderful place to work for big law. The people are at the top of their field and work really hard but also have fun with each other and care about the firm culture. As a summer I really felt like part of the family. I got to work on real projects and try a bunch of different types of practice areas, so I feel like I have a good idea about what I’ll be doing when I start as an associate.

Summer Associate

Talking Points

826 new clients added in 2011.

Advised some of the largest internet IPOs of the decade including Zynga, LinkedIn, and Yelp.

* The FCC declares net neutrality. Now an explanation of what that really means. [Gizmodo]

* Today in “delightful things police departments do,” we have the tale of a woman held in a black site by Chicago police for 18 hours before being allowed to contact a lawyer. That’s the Chicago way. [The Guardian]

* Former Georgia Attorney General Mike Bowers — of Bowers v. Hardwick fame — now supports LGBT rights. That’s got to be the last one, right? Is there anyone still out there against this? [Buzzfeed]

* Updating a previous item: Cooley filed its opposition to the federal government’s motion to dismiss in the troubling case of Judge Tabaddor, whom the government ordered to stop hearing immigration matters involving Iranians because she is Iranian-American. [Cooley LLP]

* The Harvard Law School Association Entrepreneurs Network invite you to a legal tech pitch night. It’s March 4th at 6:30 p.m. in NYC. Talkin’ law and technology. Be there and be square. [EventBrite]

Not only are there providers that think businesses can take advantage of the LegalZoom model, but some Biglaw players actually see advantages in helping more sophisticated clients tackle higher-level legal work with the help of a model. For free.

* A number of law professors filed a brief supporting the NCAA in the Ed O’Bannon antitrust appeal. What do you know, there’s actually someone out there supporting the NCAA. [CBS Sports]

* Cooley LLP is representing Immigration Judge Ashley Tabaddor in an interesting lawsuit against the DOJ. Judge Tabaddor is Iranian-American, and the DOJ ordered her off all cases involving Iranians based on her heritage. That… doesn’t sound right. [Cooley LLP]

* “Perhaps Congress should have called this the Sarbanes-Oxley Grouper Act.” Based on the justices’ reactions during oral argument, it seems like SCOTUS isn’t taking the bait in the Yates case. [WSJ Law Blog]

* It seems that President Obama still hasn’t made a decision on who he wants to replace Eric Holder as attorney general. Maybe the results of the midterm election made him change his mind. [Legal Times]

* Jay Z may have 99 problems, but this champagne deal ain’t one because Cooley helped to seal the deal. If Armand de Brignac is good enough for Queen Bey, it’s good enough for this Biglaw firm. [Am Law Daily]

* Students at the University of South Dakota School of Law are wondering whether they’re receiving a good legal education considering they’re being trained to pass the “easiest [bar] in the nation.” [The Volante]

* Kenneth Desormes of Connecticut was charged after trying to eat the results of his breathalyzer test. He may be the same Kenneth Desormes who tried to get his law school to admit to fraud. [Hartford Courant]